The present invention is related to those teachings concerned with providing illumination for the interior of a handbag, such as a lady's purse or pocketbook, or alternatively, may be utilized with handbags of the type including valises, makeup kits, briefcases and the like, for illuminating the interior of same.
The prior art is replete with patents showing the use of various switch means for causing a light on the interior of the handbag or purse to come on, and these include manually operated means as well as automatically functioning apparatus. In the latter type of device, a reed switch may be utilized, with a magnet being disposed on the interior of the handbag at a substantially opposite location to the reed switch such that when by the opening of the handbag, the magnet is caused to move away from the reed switch, a circuit is completed causing the light to come on, whereas a closing of the bag causes the magnet to be moved to a position that is in substantial juxtaposition with the reed switch, with this causing the circuit to the illumination means to be broken. My U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,134 is exemplary of this type of device.
Other known devices have included lighting arrangements for handbags in which manipulation of the clasp of the bag enables the user to selectively turn on and off the illumination means, and yet other arrangements have of course included the use of a flashlight incorporated in the handbag that can be used exteriorly.
It was to overcome some of the limitations of these prior art devices that the present invention was made.